New York, NY —
The Pakistani born U.S. citizen who was arrested early this morning has been charged with terrorism and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. In its five-count criminal complaint (PDF), the federal government says Faisal Shahzad confessed to receiving explosives training in his native Pakistan, but there's no mention of Al Qaeda. The government in its complaint also says Shahzad admitted to rigging his SUV with a homemade bomb and driving it to Times Square, where he tried to set it off. Shahzad also admitted to receiving training in bomb-making in Pakistan.
The 10-page complaint also says Shahzahd received four phone calls from Pakistan hours before he bought the Nissan Pathfinder used in the attempted bombing.
In Washington, U.S. Attorney Eric Holder disclosed that Shahzad was cooperating with investigators who are looking into what Holder characterized as a "plot" to "killing as many innocent tourists and theater-goers as possible." Holder says Shahzad is providing "valuable information" to investigators.
Holder would not confirm media reports of several related arrests in Pakistan.
Officials confirmed basic biographical details for the suspect. The 30-year-old Shahzad was born in Pakistan and became a naturalized American citizen in 2009. He spent several months in his native country after gaining U.S. citizenship.
Shahzad was apprehended in a dramatic, last-minute arrest Monday night after boarding an Emirates Airlines flight around midnight bound for Dubai and booked through to his final destination in Pakistan. Federal officials say his name was put on a no-fly list just hours before his flight.
Reporters questioned Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano about how Shahzad managed to board the flight despite having been put on the watch list. Napolitano credited quick thinking Custom and Border Protection agents for ultimately getting Shahzad into custody. She said new rules adopted since the foiled Christmas Day plane bombing helped officials stay abreast of the latest developments.
"As new data was supplied over the course of the investigation yesterday, they were able to match it once the plane manifest was complete, go on the plane, and arrest," Napolitano says.
She did not say why Shahzad was able to get on the plane in the first place, but said that even if the plane had taken off, U.S. officials would have had the right to retrieve him.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the apprehension of Shahzad was done in what he called "record time," 53 hours and 20 minutes from the time the explosives-laden car was parked on West 45th Street.
Kelly credited his own detectives for locating the hidden vehicle identity number on the Pathfinder after police discovered the visible VIN had been removed. That in turn helped investigators locate the last registered owner of the Pathfinder who had sold the SUV to Shahzad just last month.
Between the discovery of a mismatched Connecticut license plate on the Pathfinder and a decal from a used car dealership, also in Connecticut, investigators honed in on the area around Bridgeport, Conn., where the suspect lived.
Commissioner Kelly said that despite the relatively rudimentary nature of the explosive device it was none the less "a lethal assembly" that would have had devastating consequences had it gone off.
Kelly says that the arrest does not mean New Yorkers can let their guards down.
"True, we can breathe easier, but we always have to be vigilant because in the eyes of terrorists, New York is America, and they want to come back to kill us," Kelly said.
Kelly offered kudos to the bomb squad, which he said had to deal with multiple challenges in dismantling the homemade bomb.
"It was a very hot evening, they suited up in very oppressive gear, which everyone saw, and they worked tirelessly through that evening all through the next day,” Kelly said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that despite the failed bombing, New York is still one of the safest cities in the world.
"This is the place that you want to go, vacation, let your kids live," Bloomberg said. "I feel safe letting my kids live here, or there's no place that I think they would be safer."
The mayor spoke at Engine Company 54 in Times Square, where he thanked firefighters for their rapid response to the car bomb Saturday night.
The mayor said if New York had congestion pricing it may have aided law enforcement's investigation because it would have included license plate readers on all of the entry points to the city.
Both Napolitano and Attorney General Holder praised local street vendors for alerting officers to the suspicious car.
For more on the Times Square Terror Plot, click here.